NEET-UG 2026 exam cancelled: 23 lakh students appeared for exam; NTA takes important decision after paper leak complaint, demands CBI probe

The National Testing Agency (NTA) has cancelled the NEET exam held on May 3. The decision has been taken in the wake of allegations of paper leaks. The CBI has been ordered to investigate the matter. The NTA has said that the new exam dates will be announced soon. A total of 22.79 lakh students appeared for the exam. The NTA has said that the affected students will not have to register for the exam again. There will also be no change in their exam centres. New admit cards will be issued for the re-examination. The fees of the students who appeared in the examination will also be refunded. The NEET exam started in 2013. NTA held it for the first time in 2019. In 2024, the exam was cancelled at some centers due to paper leak. The Supreme Court refused to cancel the entire exam. A total of 1539 candidates were re-examined. It was only on May 8, 2026, that several investigations related to the matter were handed over to central agencies to ensure fairness and security of the examination, the NTA said. Bhaskar's investigation revealed that the questions reached the copycat gang even before the paper was printed. The wires of this 'leak' are being directly connected to Jaipur. Many students in Rajasthan were found with a handwritten gas paper, whose questions are matching with the original exam. The Special Operations Group (SOG) on Monday detained 15 suspects from Dehradun, Sikar and Jhunjhunu. A man named Manish has been arrested from Jaipur. He is believed to be the mastermind of leaking the questions before the paper is published. His entire network is being investigated. It is suspected to have spread to many other states. The gang created a 'question bank' by mixing other questions with the leaked questions even before they were published. Manish along with his colleagues carried out this task. The SOG is busy arresting all of them. The agency has questioned several students who took it. In this, he has admitted to the transaction of money. The agency is looking for its entire money trail. The general investigation revealed that 600 out of 720 questions of the exam reached the students in Sikar two days ago. However, a gas paper was sent to a friend in Sikar on May 1 by an MBBS student from a college in Kerala. According to the report, a PG administrator in Sikar received the paper, who gave it to the students living there. Through this medium he reached out to different people. The social media chats of all the suspects are being examined by the fake gang even before the paper was published. The SOG is currently investigating the matter. The agency is adding clues to reach the mastermind. The social media chats and call logs of all the suspects are being examined. However, this has reached the people like a gas paper and the SOG is currently investigating whether it is considered a paper leak or not. The 'Question Bank' that has reached the students has more than 300 questions from Physics, Chemistry and Biology. All of these are handwritten and their handwriting is also the same. Out of these, 150 questions remained unchanged in the NEET UG 2026 paper. According to experts, there is a possibility of some questions in the exam from a particular gas paper, but such a large number of questions are usually not likely. PG administrator complains to NTA After the NEET exam was held on the radar of the SOG, a PG administrator in Sikar complained to the exam-conducting agency, the National Testing Agency (NTA), that an alleged 'question bank' had been found by the students. This person is also now on the radar of the SOG. Investigations have confirmed that the PG administrator had also found a 'question bank' on WhatsApp before the exam, which he had sent to the students and career counsellors living there. Rahul Gandhi tweets about NEET cancellation, accuses BJP The Congress said that the incidents of paper leak shatter the dreams of lakhs of students every year and affect their future. The party alleged that BJP leaders do not see the pain of the students as their children are studying abroad. "The truth is that Narendra Modi and his government have completely weakened the examination system, where the dreams of the youth are being strangled and the foundation of the country is being weakened," the Congress said. The year 2024 was implemented. The central government issued a notification at midnight. The Act has been brought in to prevent cheating and other malpractices in recruitment examinations. Under this law, there will be a minimum jail term of 3 years for leaking the paper or tampering with the answer sheet. It can be extended up to 5 years with a fine of up to Rs 10 lakh. If found guilty, the service provider appointed to conduct the examination will face a jail term of 5 to 10 years and a fine of up to Rs 1 crore. If the service provider indulges in unlawful activities, he or she will be charged the cost of examination. The Act will cover examinations of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), Staff Selection Commission (SSC), Railway Recruitment Board (RRB), Banking Staff Selection Agency (IBPS) and National Testing Agency (NTA). Recruitment examinations of all central ministries and departments will also come under the purview of this law. All offences under this will be cognizable and non-bailable. Under the Anti-Paper Leak Act, the examination centre can be suspended for up to 4 years if it is found to be involved in any irregularities. That is, the centre will not have the right to conduct any government examination for the next 4 years. There is also a provision to confiscate and auction the property of an institution and the cost of the examination will also be recovered from it. Under the law, any officer not below the rank of DSP or ACP can investigate cases of malpractice in the examination. The central government has the power to hand over the investigation of any case to a central agency. Reacting to the controversy on the social media platform X (Twitter) amid the news of the NEET paper leak on May 10, the NTA issued a detailed clarification on social media, asserting that the exam was conducted 'under full security protocol' and the matter is now under investigation by law enforcement. NEET UG 2024 was leaked The NEET UG exam was conducted by the NTA on May 5. There were serious allegations of paper leak and irregularities in the exam. On May 6, the NTA denied the leak of the paper. This was followed by investigations in Bihar (Patna) and Jharkhand (Hazaribagh). Investigations revealed evidence of paper leaks and several arrests were also made. However, the Supreme Court refused to cancel the comprehensive examination and 1539 candidates were re-examined at some centres. Apart from the allegations of paper leak, 67 students getting 720/720 marks and many toppers coming from the same centre also caused a big controversy. 7 years of NTA: Student commits suicide due to wrong marking, sometimes category topper fails NEET UG 2019: More than one correct answer to the same question NTA conducted the first NEET exam in 2019. There were more than one correct answers to many questions in this exam. After the matter reached the Supreme Court, the NTA released a new answer-key. In this exam, one candidate appeared for the exam instead of another person. JEE MAINS 2020: Another candidate appeared for the exam in place of JEE Mains Assam Topper In JEE Mains 2020, another candidate named Pradeep Kumar appeared for the exam in place of a candidate from Assam named Neel Nakshatra Das. Neil got 99.8% marks. In this case, Neil, his father, Dr. A total of 7 people, including Jyotirmoy Das, were arrested. NEET UG 2020: NTA gives only 6 marks, 590 marks in OMR matching after suicide In the NEET UG exam of 2020, Vidhi Suryavanshi from Chhindwara district of Madhya Pradesh got only 6 marks. Vidhi gave up his life by hanging. Later, when Vidhi's brother matched the marks with the OMR sheet on the portal, it turned out to be 590 marks of Vidhi. NEET UG 2020: NTA fails ST category topper Mridul Rawat from Rajasthan's Sawai Madhopur district got 329 marks in the result declared by the NTA. He challenged the outcome. The scorecard released by the NTA after rechecking the OMR had 650 marks written in digits, while only 339 were written in words. According to Mridul, on the basis of 650 marks, he topped the ST category, while in the general category his rank was 3577. JEE MAINS 2022: Allegations of technical glitches in exams NTA were accused of malpractice during the JEE Mains exam in 2022. Many students faced technical difficulties during the examination. There were also problems with the answer key and response sheet. JEE MAINS 2024: Allegations of unequal distribution of students in shifts The JEE exam of Session-1 was held on 5 different dates in the months of January and February this year. The students alleged that their percentile had gone down due to more students in some shifts. However, as per the data released by NTA later, the number of students appearing for the exam in all shifts was almost the same. As per the data shared by the government, examinations like JEE Main 2020, NEET-UG 2020, JEE Main 2021 and NEET-UG 2021 had to be postponed due to Covid pandemic. - The CSIR UGC-NET 2020, UGC-NET December 2020, UGC-NET May 2021 and ICAR AIEEA 2020 Examinations were postponed due to Covid and logistical challenges. - The DUET 2020 examination was postponed due to the stoppage of the registration process of Delhi University. - CMAT 2021 exam was postponed due to change in exam pattern by AICTE. - The All India Ayush Post Graduate Entrance Test (AIAPGET) 2021 and the Joint Integrated Programme in Management Admission Test (JIPMAT) 2021 were also postponed due to the Covid pandemic. - The IGNOU PhD Entrance Examination in the year 2022 has been postponed due to administrative reasons. - The Graduate Aptitude Test Biotechnology (GAT-B) Examination in 2023 was postponed in consultation with Regional Biotechnology Centres. - In 2024, the National Common Entrance Test (NCET) exam had to be postponed due to technical reasons and the CSIR-NET exam due to logistical reasons.